Public Safety Ignored at Notre Dame

Men with Chainsaws Work While Children Bike Past

The tree work at Notre Dame school last Wednesday was done with little regard for citizen safety. Pedestrians and children were allowed to pass within six feet of men with chainsaws falling 40 to 70 foot tall trees. A car was damaged.

The work carried on like this for four hours, despite direct requests from residents to fix what was clearly an unsafe situation. We were told by workers from the site that putting up flagging tape and closing the sidewalk was pointless and that children should know better than to ride past men with chainsaws!

No safety steps were taken until we called the City of Vancouver and they sent someone who saw what was happening. After at least 6 trees had been brought down, the sidewalk was finally closed with flagging tape. Little else changed and cars continued to drive past on Kaslo.

The second day was somewhat better organized with tape put up before the work started. In the afternoon, a traffic person was seen stopping cars while a large tree near the firehall was brought down. That work resulted in the smashed windshield on the parked car.

All these problems could have been prevented if the school made time to notify neighbours and put up No Parking and Sidewalk Closed signs.

We’ve asked the school to explain why this unsafe situation was allowed on their work site for so many hours. Our concerns have been passed to their construction management company – the same people who had zero effective presence on the work site last Wednesday.

When we get an answer, we’ll let you know what they have to say for themselves.

As of this writing, the work has stopped at Notre Dame. The sense of urgency that possessed them last week has faded away, leaving us to ask, why the rush in the first place? The nesting birds could use the time. And the peace and quiet.